Saturday, January 11, 2014

Here's the chart for the fans top 100 albums of all time. (Click to enlarge.)

The structure is similar to the critics chart - but even more concentrated in the golden era. In the critics chart 1968 and 1971 were the biggest years with 6 entries each. Those are also big years for the fans with 7 and 8 entries respectively. But the biggest year is 1969 - with 10 entries!

Rank

Artist

Album

5

The Beatles

Abbey Road

7

King Crimson

In the Court of the Crimson King

40

Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin

44

Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin II

51

The Velvet Underground

The Velvet Underground

60

Miles Davis

In a Silent Way

67

The Rolling Stones

Let It Bleed

74

Nick Drake

Five Leaves Left

81

Neil Young

Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere

84

Frank Zappa

Hot Rats

This is by far the oldest chart - the median release date is 1971! (vs 1977 for the critics and 1987 for sales)

There are only 4 entries from 2000 and beyond - two of them belonging to Radiohead. The latest entry is In Rainbows in 2007. No Adele.

On the face of it, this could suggest the fans on RYM are older and more conservative than the critics or the record buying public. But that theory is shot down when you look at the charts for recent years on RYM. The preponderance of death metal, speed metal, shoegaze, etc suggests this is not an old audience. Maybe the oldies on RYM just outnumber the youngsters - so the old stuff tends to get more votes than the new stuff? But then how to explain the popularity of Radiohead? Maybe Radiohead just has the greatness to cross demographic boundaries and appeals to the oldies as well as the kids. Maybe they don't make 'em like they used to, but Radiohead is a rare exception - a genuinely great band that will stand the test of time.

One of my personal favourites this year. What's not to like about Daft Punk + Nile Rogers? Fun to dance to. Fun to listen to. Unlike much dance music it stands up well to repeated close listening.

4

The National

Trouble Will Find Me

Critics + Fans

It's nicely produced, atmospheric, etc. But I don't feel like it's advancing the state of the art as laid down by Nick Cave or Joy Division or some other confessional singer/songwriters. Certainly listenable and enjoyable - but I was kinda hoping for more.

3

Nick Cave and The Bad
Seeds

Push the Sky Away

Critics + Fans

...speaking of which. The real deal. 120 years on and still going strong.

2

Vampire Weekend

Modern Vampires of the City

Critics + Fans

This one is growing on me slowly. Dense arty indie pop rock.

1

My Bloody Valentine

m b v

Critics + Fans

What is it with shoegaze this year? Another album that just missed out on the list was the industrial shoegaze Sunbather by Deafheaven.

Amazing that this is #1 on the list when it isn't on iTunes or Spotify. You need to buy it from the artist's site. I appreciate the immersive and experiential nature of shoegaze - and this is probably as good a contemporary example as you'll find anywhere. I would have said it's not for everybody - but clearly a lot of critics and fans have made the effort to track it down and vote for it.

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

What artists do the fans like - and how does that compare with the critics' and best seller lists?

The fans list is more concentrated than the other list. 64 entries come from artists with two or more entries vs 51 for the sales chart and 34 for the critics. That kinda makes sense - you'd expect critics to have more diverse interest than fans or record buyers. But I was surprised that the fans were more concentrated than the sales data.

Despite being deposed from the top slots by Radiohead and Pink Floyd, the Beatles still have the most entries. I suppose they must be ok.

The order is different - but the albums are the same as the critics, except the fans substitute Magical Mystery Tour for Please Please Me. Hard to pass up one of the greatest pieces of psychedelia of all time.

The fans really like their Pink Floyd! The critics gave the nod to only 1 Floyd album, which seems like a travesty. The best seller list had 3.

Bob Dylan
Blood on the Tracks
Highway 61 Revisited
Blonde on Blonde
Bringing it All Back Home
The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan

Pink Floyd
Dark Side of the Moon (#2 Overall)
Wish You Were Here
Animals
Piper At the Gates of Dawn
Meddle

4.= Led Zeppelin, Neil Young, Radiohead, The Rolling Stones - 4 entries
I like the elevation of Neil Young and Radiohead. Compared with the sales chart, the fans drop Houses of the Holy and add Lep Zep I and III.

Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin IV
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin II
Led Zeppelin III

Neil Young
After the Gold Rush
On the Beach
Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
Harvest

Sunday, January 5, 2014

Here are the next 5 albums in our countdown of the top 25 albums of 2013.

Rank

Artist

Album

Source

15

Arcade Fire

Reflektor

Critics

14

Taylor Swift

Red

Sales

13

Run the Jewels

Run the Jewels

Fans

12

Justin Timberlake

The 20/20 Experience

Sales

11

Sigur Rós

Kveikur

Fans

My spirits sank when I saw this was a double CD. But they lifted with the first track, Reflektor, which is a killer dance number. I first listened to it in a single sitting and by the end, however, I was thinking, "Is this ever going to end?" There are a bunch of great tracks here and some not so great. This could have been truly outstanding if it had been edited down to vinyl LP length - say 45 mins. A quick scan of other reviews shows I'm not the first to criticise the length and inconsistency. Maybe history will view this as Arcade Fire's White Album.

It's six years since the release of her first album, so I was hoping for more. It's quite pleasant when the production backs off and her natural voice is given a chance to breath. But most of the time her voice is subject to gratuitous and egregious processing - presumably to help it "cut through" on radio and computer speakers. That and the over produced, over compressed, over dense backing tracks make it a really hard listen for me.

And now for something completely different...an album that isn't even on iTunes or Spotify at the time of writing. No worries, it was available as a free download from the artist. Probably as good an example of the state of hard core hip hop as you'll find anywhere.

Contemporary R&B done right!! The true heir of MJ? Ok, well not quite that catchy, but you get the drift.

In isolation a good and interesting album that probably deserves a position in the chart. But from the perspective of their previous output, doesn't advance the ball.

Friday, January 3, 2014

Here are the next 5 albums in our countdown of the top 25 albums of 2013.

Rank

Artist

Album

Source

20

Mumford & Sons

Babel

Sales

19

Bruno Mars

Unorthodox Jukebox

Sales

18

Gorguts

Colored Sands

Fans

17

One Direction

Take Me Home

Sales

16

Boards of Canada

Tomorrow's Harvest

Fans

The Mumford & Sons is pleasant enough - it's nice to hear a big selling album that is at least a bit organic and without a totally compressed and cluttered production style.

I didn't have high hopes for Unorthodox Jukebox but was quite pleasantly surprised by the range of stylistic influences.

I couldn't say the same thing about Take Me Home. It was pretty much what I expected - expertly crafted pop music. Guilty pleasure when it pops up on the radio - but nothing that makes me want to listen to an album of it.

The fan selections in this bracket are pretty interesting - and divergent. Colored Sands is intense death metal - not a genre that I listen to much. I have a particular aversion to Cookie Monster vocals (AKA screamo) - although I can appreciate a certain artistry therein. Notwithstanding, Colored Sands is worth checking out for fans of the genre, or newbies wanting to know what it's about.

Tomorrow's Harvest is one of my personal favourites of 2013. "Downtempo" is the emergent label encompassing many subgenres that have sprung up in the wake of Massive Attack and Portishead. Tomorrow's Harvest is an excellent example - there are elements of trip hop, ambient, IDM (intelligent dance music). I have listened to a lot of new music. The majority only get one or two listens - but I have kept coming back to Tomorrow's Harvest.

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Which years were most prolific according to critics, based on their top 100 albums of all time?

The chart tells the story (click to enlarge):

This is very different to the sales chart, with the biggest group of releases coming in the period 1965-1973.

The first entry is older than the sales chart - 1959 - Miles Davis with Kind of Blue. Still no Sinatra.

The biggest years are 1968 and 1971, each with 6 entries:

1968

Aretha Franklin

Lady Soul

The Band

Music From Big Pink

Johnny Cash

At Folsom Prison

The Beatles

The Beatles (White Album)

The Rolling Stones

Beggars Banquet

Van Morrison

Astral Weeks

1971

Carole King

Tapestry

David Bowie

Hunky Dory

Joni Mitchell

Blue

Marvin Gaye

What's Going On

The Rolling Stones

Sticky Fingers

The Who

Who's Next

The median is 1977 - ten years older than the sales list.

The 2000s are not as barren as in the sales list - there are seven entries after 2001, including two in 2011 - 21 by Adele, and the wonderful Let England Shake by PJ Harvey. There are 12 entries from 2000 and beyond.

The age of the blockbuster album may be pretty well over from a sales perspective - but as a creative form it is still far from dead.

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

So long to 2013. The end of the year can only mean one thing. No, not hangovers, soon to be forgotten resolutions, or the fervent prayer that what you did on NYE is not going viral right now. It is time for the making of lists!

First up is the top 25 Albums of 2013.

This is a meta-list which taps critics, fans and punters (i.e. sales) to come up with an all-encompassing proprietary meta-list which summarises the year in music.

The sources are...

Critics: Top 25 albums from AOTY. This is a meta-site which combines 48 year end lists from a wide range of publications, including Rolling Stone, NME, etc.

Fans: Top 25 albums for 2013 from Rate Your Music as at 2/1/13. This is my favourite music voting site for albums. Most of the top 25 have over 1,000 ratings. It is a carefully curated site, with confidential algorithms to prevent rigging.

Sales: The top 25 albums from the Billboard Top 200 for 2013. These are the top selling albums across all genres for 2013.

The albums in each list are scored between 1 and 25 based on their position in the list. Then I combine the three sources, adding the scores for albums on more than one list. Albums that appear on more than one list are automatically ranked above albums appearing on only one list.

This year there are no albums appearing on all three lists. But there are 9 albums that appear on two lists.

I feel like this has been a good year for music.

Join me in following posts as I count down the Top 25 Albums of 2013.

Rank

Artist

Album

Source

25

Haim

Days Are Gone

Critics

24

Florida Georgia Line

Here's To The Good Times

Sales

23

Arctic Monkeys

AM

Critics

22

Tim Hecker

Virgins

Fans

21

Imagine Dragons

Night Visions

Sales

I love the Tim Hecker techno/noise ambient album and admit to guilty pleasures in Imagine Dragons.